Know Your Enemy: UTEP Miners

Oklahoma Opens Up 2017 Campaign With UTEP

WHO: UTEP Miners

WHEN: Saturday, September 2nd @ 2:30 PM CT

WHERE: Norman, Oklahoma

HOW TO WATCH: FOX

SCOUTING UTEP: The Miners come to Norman trying to bounce back from a 4-8 performance in 2016. Sean Kugler is in year five in El Paso, and this could be one of his better teams. They return All-American guard Will Hernandez and an experienced quarterback in Ryan Metz. However, Kugler will be looking to replace UTEP’s all-time leading rusher, Aaron Jones.

UTEP returns 15 players with starting experience from last year. No matter the record, it is always a positive to be returning players with game experience. They are still in the transition from a 4-2-5 defense to a 3-4–just the opposite of what Oklahoma is trying to accomplish. The Miners only tallied 14 sacks and 11 takeaways from a year ago and will need to improve on that to give themselves a chance on defense in 2017.

Unfortunately, the only area UTEP matches up with Oklahoma on is their offensive line. The Sooners will have every advantage on the field. This game will solely be dictated on Oklahoma executing or not. The Sooners are favored by more than 45 points in this one for a reason.

The storylines will reside more on Lincoln Riley’s debut. This is no slight to UTEP, but Oklahoma has been more than ready for this one since June 7th.